Caltrain

Caltrain

Overview
Owner	Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board
Locale	San Francisco Peninsula Santa Clara Valley Counties: San Francisco, San Mateo, and Santa Clara
Transit type	Commuter rail
Number of lines	1
Number of stations	32
Daily ridership	58,245 weekdays 17,392 Saturdays 8,849 Sundays (February 2015 average)[1]
Headquarters	San Carlos, California
Website	http://www.caltrain.com
Operation
Began operation	1987
Operator(s)	Amtrak (1992–2012) TransitAmerica Services (2012–present)
Reporting marks	JPBX
Host railroads	JPBX (San Francisco–Tamien) Union Pacific (Tamien–Gilroy)
Number of vehicles	29 locomotives 118 passenger cars[2]
Train length	1 locomotive, 5 or 6 passenger cars
Technical
System length	77.4 mi (124.6 km)
Track gauge	4 ft 8 ^1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) (standard gauge)
Top speed	79 mph (127 km/h)
System map Legend Transbay Transit Center planned San Francisco 22nd Street Oakdale proposed Paul Avenue closed Bayshore San Francisco San Mateo County Butler Road closed South San Francisco San Bruno Fare zone 1 Fare zone 2 Millbrae Broadway weekends only Burlingame San Mateo Hayward Park Bay Meadows closed Hillsdale Belmont San Carlos Redwood City timed transfer Fare zone 2 Fare zone 3 Dumbarton extension Menlo Park/East Palo Alto proposed Newark proposed Fremont-Centerville proposed Union City proposed Atherton weekends only Menlo Park San Mateo County Santa Clara County Palo Alto Stanford game days only California Avenue San Antonio Castro closed Mountain View Sunnyvale Fare zone 3 Fare zone 4 Lawrence Santa Clara College Park Bellarmine commutes CEMOF Mountain View–Winchester (VTA) San Jose Diridon Alum Rock–Santa Teresa (VTA) Tamien Fare zone 4 Fare zone 5 Capitol weekday commutes Blossom Hill weekday commutes Fare zone 5 Fare zone 6 Morgan Hill weekday commutes San Martin weekday commutes Gilroy weekday commutes

Caltrain is a California commuter rail line on the San Francisco Peninsula and in the Santa Clara Valley (Silicon Valley). The north end of the line is San Francisco, at 4th and King streets; its south end is Gilroy. Trains leave San Francisco and San Jose about hourly on weekdays, or more frequently during commute hours and for special events (such as sporting events). Service between San Jose and Gilroy is limited to three weekday commute-hour round trips. Weekday ridership in February 2015 averaged 58,245, up 10.7% from February 2014 and 71% since 2010.^[1]

Caltrain is governed by the Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board (PCJPB), which consists of agencies from the three Caltrain counties--San Francisco, San Mateo and Santa Clara. Each member agency has three representatives on a nine-member Board of Directors. The member agencies are the City and County of San Francisco, SamTrans and the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority.

Caltrain has 29 regular stops, one football-only stop (Stanford Stadium), and two weekend-only stops (Broadway and Atherton). As of October 2012 Caltrain runs 92 weekday trains (22 Baby Bullet), 36 Saturday (4 Baby Bullet), and 32 Sunday (4 Baby Bullet).^[3]

History

Southern Pacific service

An SP locomotive pulls a Peninsula Commute train past Bayshore in April 1985

The original railroad built in 1863 was the San Francisco and San Jose Rail Road, purchased by Southern Pacific in 1870.

Southern Pacific double-tracked the line in 1904 and rerouted it via Bayshore. After 1945, ridership declined with the rise of automobile use; in 1977, SP petitioned the state Public Utilities Commission to discontinue the commuter operation because of the ongoing losses.

To preserve the commuter service, Caltrans in 1980 contracted SP and began to subsidize the operation. Caltrans purchased new locomotives and rolling stock, replacing SP equipment in 1985. Caltrain also upgraded stations, added shuttle buses to nearby employers, and dubbed the operation CalTrain.

Joint Powers Board

A Caltrain car manufactured by Nippon Sharyo.

The Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board was formed in 1987 to manage the line. Subsequently San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties commissioned Earth Metrics, Inc., to prepare an Environmental Impact Report on right-of-way acquisition and expansion of operations. With state and local funding, the PCJPB bought the railroad right of way between San Francisco and San Jose from SP in 1991. The following year, PCJPB took responsibility for CalTrain operations and selected Amtrak as the contract operator. PCJPB extended the CalTrain service from San Jose to Gilroy, connecting to VTA Light Rail at Tamien Station in San Jose.

In July 1995 CalTrain became accessible to passengers in wheelchairs. Five months later, CalTrain increased the bicycle limit to 24 per train, making the service attractive to commuters in bicycle-friendly cities such as San Francisco and Palo Alto.

In July 1997 the current logo was adopted, and the official name became Caltrain.

In 1998 the San Francisco Municipal Railway extended the N Judah Muni Metro line from Market Street to the San Francisco Caltrain Station at 4th and King streets, providing a direct Caltrain-Muni Metro connection for the first time. A year later, VTA extended its light rail service from north Santa Clara to the Mountain View Caltrain station.

In June 2003, a passenger connection for the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) and Caltrain systems opened at Millbrae station just south of the San Francisco International Airport.^[4]

In 2006, Caltrain announced that wireless internet access (using WiMAX) would be available on trains at no additional charge, by the end of 2007.^[5] Caltrain invested more than $1 million in researching and testing WiFi in 2006. The Caltrain Board of Directors voted at their August 30, 2007 meeting to keep the project from proceeding by rejecting both bids to provide the service, citing both bids not meeting the expectation of Caltrain. Caltrain still hopes to offer the service eventually as part of a more comprehensive communication package.^[6]

In 2008, Caltrain reached an all-time high of 98 trains each weekday.

Caltrain announced on August 19, 2011 a staff recommendation to sign a five-year, $62.5 million contract with Missouri based TransitAmerica Services, Inc., a subsidiary of Herzog Transit Systems, after taking proposals from three other firms, including Amtrak, which has provided operating employees since 1992.^[7] The new operating contract was approved by the full Joint Powers Board at its scheduled September 1 meeting. TransitAmerica Services will take over not only the conductor and engineer jobs on the trains, but also dispatching and maintenance of equipment, track, and right-of-way from Amtrak. The changeover was estimated to take about five months beginning in late 2011. On May 26, 2012 (during the Memorial Day weekend), TransitAmerica took over full operations.^[8]

Baby Bullet service

Baby Bullet service is provided by MPI MP36PH-3C locomotives.

In June 2004, Caltrain finished its two-year CTX (Caltrain Express) project for a new express service called the Baby Bullet. The project entailed new bypass tracks in Brisbane and Sunnyvale as well as a new centralized traffic control system. The Baby Bullet trains reduced travel time by stopping at only four or five stations between San Francisco and San Jose Diridon Station; the express trains could overtake local trains at the two locations (near Bayshore and Lawrence stations) where bypass tracks were added. Travel time for about 46.75 miles between San Francisco and San Jose is 57 minutes (four stops), 59 minutes (five stops) or 61 minutes (six stops), compared to 1 hour 30 minutes for locals. The Baby Bullets have the same top speed of 79 mph (127 km/h) as other trains, but fewer stops save time. The CTX project included the purchase of new Bombardier BiLevel Coaches along with MPI MP36PH-3C locomotives.^[9] The Baby Bullets have proved popular, but they skip most stations so many riders have longer commutes on non-bullet trains, some of which wait for Baby Bullet trains to pass.^[10]

In May 2005 Caltrain started a series of fare increases and schedule changes in response to a projected budget shortfall. The frequency of the popular Baby Bullet express trains was increased; two express trains were added in May and another ten were added in August. New Baby Bullet stops, Pattern B stops, were introduced. Another increase of US$0.25 in basic fare came in January 2006.

Currently, each train is assigned a three-digit number indicating direction, sequence and stop pattern. This number is not to be confused with the locomotive number, which is the 9xx number physically stenciled on each engine. Only the MPI locomotives display all three digits; all others (EMD locomotives and control cars) display the last two digits only.

Train number locations on locomotives (top row) and control cars (bottom row)

• The first digit for weekday trains is always 1, 2 or 3, indicating stopping pattern. 1xx trains are local trains making all regular stops. 2xx trains are limited-service trains, skipping some stations. 3xx trains are Baby Bullet trains, and make the fewest stops.^[11]
• The first digit for weekend trains is always 4 or 8, also indicating stopping pattern. 4xx trains are local trains making all stops. 8xx trains are Weekend Baby Bullet trains, making fewer stops.^[12]
• The second and third digits indicate the sequence number of the train. For instance, x01 is the first train of the day. These digits also indicate the direction of the train; odd-numbered trains run northbound, and even-numbered trains run southbound. Thus x02 is the first southbound train of the day, x03 is the second northbound train of the day, etc. These numbers are placarded on the leading element of the train (either the control car, for northbound trains, or the locomotive, for southbound trains).

Budget crisis

On April 2, 2010, Caltrain announced the need to cut its services by around 50%, as it was required to cut $30 million from its $97 million budget because all three authorities that fund the line were facing financial problems themselves and $10 million a year in previous state funding had been cut. Revenues for both local and state agencies had been steadily declining, as well as ticket revenues at Caltrain itself, and had left all "beyond broke."^[13]

On January 1, 2011, Caltrain cut 4 midday trains but upgraded 4 weekend trains to Baby Bullet service as a pilot program. This reduced its schedule from 90 to 86 trains each weekday. At the same time, it raised fares $0.25 and continued to contemplate cutting weekday service to 48 trains during commute hours only.^[14] By April 2011, Caltrain's board had approved a budget with fare increases to take effect on July 1, 2011, and no service cuts. The budget gap would be closed with another $0.25 fare increase, a $1 parking fee increase to $4, and additional money from other transit agencies and the MTC.^[15][16]

Future plans

Downtown San Francisco extension

A 1.3 mi (2.1 km) tunnel has been proposed to extend Caltrain from its north end in San Francisco at 4th and King to a rebuilt Transbay Terminal,^[17] closer to the job center of San Francisco and BART, Muni, Transbay AC Transit buses, and long-distance buses. As of 2012 only the structural "train box" below the Transbay Terminal has been funded and is being built.^[18] In April 2012 the Metropolitan Transportation Commission decided to make the remainder of the $2.5 billion extension its top priority for federal funding.^[19] The extension would also serve the California High-Speed Rail system.

An alternate proposal, put forth by Mayor Ed Lee, would see the existing terminal and trains yards demolished along with Interstate 280 in Mission Bay, then replaced with infill housing. Caltrain and high-speed rail would instead be extended to the Transbay Terminal in a new tunnel under Third Street.^[20]

Dumbarton extension

Caltrain has been chosen to provide commuter rail service on a to-be-rebuilt Dumbarton rail corridor across the San Francisco Bay between the Peninsula and Alameda County in the East Bay. This project would add four stations to the Caltrain system: Union City, Fremont-Centerville, Newark, and Menlo Park/East Palo Alto. The two obsolete swing bridges along the corridor would be replaced.^[21] Dumbarton Rail was scheduled to start construction in 2009 after a 30-month environmental review and begin service in 2012.^[22] SamTrans, one of Caltrain's member agencies, already owns the right-of-way for the Dumbarton Rail Bridge. The bridge has not been used since 1982, when it was still owned by SP, and about 33% of the bridge collapsed due to an arson fire in 1998. However, the project's estimated cost doubled between 2004 and 2006, to US$ 600M,^[23] and is financially problematic.^[24] In January 2009, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission instead applied the funds to the BART Warm Springs Extension project in Fremont, delaying the Dumbarton rail project for a decade.^[25]

South of Gilroy extension

Caltrain was the first service provider approached by the Transportation Agency for Monterey County (TAMC) to extend service south of Gilroy into Monterey County. The proposed extension would stop at Pajaro (serving Watsonville in adjacent Santa Cruz County) and Castroville before terminating at Salinas, which already has an Amtrak station serving the Coast Starlight. This project depends on state and federal funding availability and a possible local sales tax measure. This project is managed by TAMC, who has released the Final Environment Impact Report (EIR) for this project in 2006.^[26] This would complement another plan to re-establish rail service last provided by Southern Pacific Railroad's Del Monte Express which operated between Monterey and San Francisco.

As TAMC would have to secure 100% of the operational funding expense incurred by Caltrain for this extension, it is now being discussed to partner with the Caltrans Division of Rail to instead extend Capitol Corridor service south from San Jose to Salinas.

Modernization and electrification

The proposed Caltrain electrification project would convert the Caltrain main line between San Francisco and the San Jose Tamien Station from diesel-electric locomotive power to fully electric rolling stock.^[27] Proponents say electrification would improve service times via faster acceleration, allow better scheduling and reduce air pollution and noise. Electrification would also allow future expansion to downtown San Francisco.^[28] Electrified vehicles require less maintenance, but electrification will increase required track maintenance by about the same dollar amount, at least initially. The plan is to electrify the system between San Francisco 4th and King Street Station and San Jose Tamien Station by 2019.^[28] At that point, Caltrain plans to use electric multiple units and increase service to six trains per hour in each direction.^[28][29]

The electrification project between San Francisco and Tamien is the first phase, the second phase being from Tamien Station to Gilroy.^[30] Cost, excluding electric rolling stock, for the first phase is estimated at $471 million (2006 dollars). Caltrain plans to use lighter electric multiple units that do not comply with the US Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) crash-worthiness standards, but instead comply with the International Union of Railways (UIC) standards, on the electrified lines. FRA granted Caltrain a waiver to operate these units, which were previously banned on mix-used lines with other FRA-compliant rolling stocks due to concerns over crash worthiness, after Caltrain submitted simulation data showing UIC-compliant rolling stocks performed no worse or even better than FRA-compliant rolling stocks in crashes.^[31][32] Caltrain plans to retain the newer diesel-electric rolling stock for Dumbarton and south of Tamien service.

As part of the Caltrain Modernization Program, positive train control is being installed along the route between San Francisco and San Jose. Construction began in fall 2013 and will be complete by late 2015.^[33]

California High-Speed Rail

The length of the Caltrain line from Gilroy to San Francisco is part of the planned route of the California High-Speed Rail line. Trains are predicted to travel at speeds up to 125 mph between San Jose and San Francisco. The Gilroy–Tamien portion is now freight-owned track (owned by Union Pacific), so FRA would require dedicated tracks next to the present track.

Right of way

The Caltrain right of way between San Francisco and Tamien stations is owned and maintained by its operating agency, the Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board (PCJPB). PCJPB purchased the right of way from Southern Pacific (SP) in 1991, while SP maintained rights to inter-city passenger and freight trains. In exchange SP granted PCJPB rights to operate up to 6 trains per day between Tamien and Gilroy stations, later increased to 10 trains per day on a deal with SP's successor Union Pacific (UP) in 2005.

Stations

The system has 32 stations, 29 served daily and two weekend-only. San Francisco 4th and King Street is the northern terminus of the system, while Gilroy is the southern terminus. Atherton and Broadway are served only on weekends, and Stanford is served only on Stanford University's football game days.^[34] College Park is served only on weekdays during Bellarmine College Preparatory's school commute time. Tamien is served by train on weekdays and by shuttle bus on weekends. The five southernmost stations—Capitol, Blossom Hill, Morgan Hill, San Martin, and Gilroy—are served only on weekdays during commute time. Twelve stations are served by the express train service known as Baby Bullet, inaugurated in 2004.^[35] Two stations, Sunnyvale and Santa Clara, are not long enough to accommodate six-car trains without minor service impacts.^[36] Seven stations (Millbrae, Burlingame, San Carlos, Menlo Park, Palo Alto, Santa Clara, and San Jose Diridon) are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.^[37]

Maintenance and operations facility

The Centralized Equipment Maintenance and Operations Facility is a new train maintenance yard and facility north of San Jose Diridon station in San Jose.^[38] The US$140 million maintenance station began construction in 2004 and opened on September 29, 2007.^[39][40] It consolidates much of Caltrain's maintenance and operations into one location.^[41]

Ticketing and ridership

Caltrain Average Weekday Ridership by year Survey done every February.[1][42][43]
1997	26,043
1998	27,967
1999	27,591
2000	31,291
2001	35,609
2002	30,961
2003	27,191
2004	25,550
2005	28,393
2006	32,031
2007	33,841
2008	36,993
2009	39,122
2010	36,778
2011	37,779
2012	42,354
2013	47,060
2014	52,611
2015	58,245

Caltrain ridership more than doubled between 2005 and 2015.^[44] Ridership growth has been linked to the expansion of businesses near Caltrain stations, a shift in attitudes against the use of cars for commuting, and the expansion Caltrain service which has included extra trains and the introduction of fast express services (Baby Bullet service).^[45][46]

Caltrain uses a proof-of-payment system: each rider must buy a ticket prior to boarding the train that may or may not be checked during the trip.^[47][48] Passengers who board the train without a viable ticket are subject to fines of up to $250 plus court fees.^[47][48]

Passengers who use the electronic Clipper card to ride must remember to "tag on" with their card prior to boarding and "tag off" with their card after exiting the train.^[49] If they board the train without tagging on, they will be subject to the same fines.^[48][49] In addition, Caltrain passengers are charged the maximum one way fare when they tag on prior to boarding the train and the difference is reimbursed when they tag off after leaving the train. If passengers who use the Clipper card fail to tag off when they exit the train, they will be charged "the highest cash fare from [their] point of origin."^[50]

Fares for Caltrain service are based on the number of zones traveled (see above). One-way tickets expire four hours after purchase, but round-trip tickets ("day passes") are good for unlimited rides within their zone limit until the last train of the day. Discounted 8-ride tickets and monthly passes are available only with a Clipper card. Seniors, children, and the disabled ride for roughly half price (varies depending on the ticket). One-way full fares are (as of March 1, 2016):^[51]

• Within one zone: $3.75
• Within two zones: $5.75
• Within three zones: $7.75
• Within four zones: $9.75
• Within five zones: $11.75
• Within six zones: $13.75

Day-Pass is double the one-way, while Clipper card users have a $0.50 discount on the one way full fares.

Zone ticketing requires little infrastructure at the stations but can be expensive for passengers making a short trip that crosses a zone boundary (each zone is 13 miles long). Travel from Sunnyvale to Lawrence (2.0 miles / 3.2 km) costs $5.75, the same as San Francisco to Redwood City (25.3 miles / 40.8 km).

In August 2009 Caltrain became the fifth public transit agency in the San Francisco Bay Area to implement the Clipper card.^[52]

Cost and budget

The Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board purchased the right of way between San Francisco and San Jose for $212 million from Southern Pacific in 1991. The total operating budget for fiscal year 2011 was $95,628,000. The fare revenue was $49,026,000, making the farebox recovery ratio 51.3%.^[53] This rose to over 58% in fiscal year 2012 and 62.3% in 2013.^[54][55]

Rolling stock

Locomotives

Caltrain uses (or has used) the following locomotives, which are powered by diesel engines:^[2]

Builder	Model	Locomotive Numbers	Years of Service	Notes	Image
EMD	F40PH-2	902, 903, 907, 910, 914	1985–present	Ordered new by Caltrans; Overhauled by Alstom in 1999; HEP generators retained original gear drive from main engine.
EMD	F40PH-2CAT	900, 901, 904–906, 908, 909, 911–913, 915–919	1985–present	Originally F40PH-2s; ordered new by Caltrans; overhauled by Alstom in 1999 and HEP generators were converted to separate Caterpillar 6-cylinder engines. Units 918 and 919 entered service in 1987.
MPI	F40PH-2C	920–922	1998–present	Cummins-powered HEP generators. No. 920 is the Operation Lifesaver unit.
MPI	MP36PH-3C	923–928	2003–present	Primarily used for "Baby Bullet" service.
EMD	GP9	500, 501	2000–2013	Work train/yard switcher service. Sold to Motive Power Resources late 2012, left Caltrain on March 8, 2013.
EMD	MP15DC	503, 504	2003–present	Work train/yard switcher service.

Caltrain also leased a number of Amtrak F40PH's in 1998 and 1999 while Caltrain's F40PH-2's were being overhauled.

Passenger cars

Interior of a Nippon Sharyo bi-level passenger car.

There are 93 bi-level gallery-type cars built by Nippon Sharyo in Caltrain's fleet, of which 66 are coaches and 27 are bike-accessible cab cars. Caltrans purchased the first 63 gallery cars in 1985 when it began subsidizing the commuter rail service. The other 30 were purchased by Caltrain in 2000, and the older cars were rebuilt by Nippon Sharyo around the same time.^[2] Each gallery car has one set of exit doors on each side of the car.

Caltrain purchased 17 Bombardier BiLevel Coaches in 2002, of which 10 are coaches, 5 are cab-bike cars, and 2 are cab-wheelchair cars.^[2] Some of the Bombardier BiLevel Coaches were bought from the Sounder Commuter Rail. Caltrain purchased additional eight cars in 2008 to meet short-term passenger growth and to increase spare ratio. These Bombardier cars were mostly used on Baby Bullet express trains, but they can be spotted on limited-stop and local trains, and many of the Baby Bullet routes have gone back to gallery sets due to their superior bicycle capacity, since demand for bicycle car access has been high. Initially, only control cars were modified to take bicycles, with all Bombardier sets and some gallery sets configured as 2-bike car sets. Due to demand, the gallery sets with only one control car had a non-control car modified to take bicycles, making all gallery sets 2-bike car sets. 10 gallery trailer cars, 3826-3835, had their lower-level seats removed in 2011.^[2][56] The Bombardier cars are never mixed with the Nippon-Sharyo gallery cars.

Caltrain purchased 16 Bombardier BiLevel Coaches from Metrolink in 2014 to cope with increasing ridership. These cars will be used to add an additional car to each Bombardier set, extending them to six cars total. Four of the unrefurbished cars were added to existing Bombardier sets in May 2015 pending the rehabilitation of the other twelve cars.^[36] Caltrain announced in January 2015 that roughly half of the additional Bombardier cars will be converted to cars with capacity for 24 bikes, so some trains running Bombardier cars will be six-car consists, of which three will be bike cars.^[57] Official bike capacity for six-car Bombardier consists will rise to 72 (from 48, which is the current bike capacity with five-car Bombardier consists), which is comparable to the 80 bike capacity of five-car Nippon Sharyo consists (which include two 40-bike gallery cars). Although the cars were sourced from Metrolink, most car refurbishment is carried out on the east coast, and they will need to be ferried cross-country to be refitted, unless Caltrain can conduct the refit themselves. Five of the Bombardier cars are being refurbished as bike cars and are expected to be in service by March 2016. At that time, all six-car Bombardier consists will have three bike cars and three passenger cars, with the third bike car being added just south of the existing southern bike car. The third bike car is being placed next to the other bike car to help conductors to manage bike capacity.^[58]

Caltrain bought remanufactured Budd Rail Diesel Car ("Boise Budd") single-level cars from Virginia Railway Express around 2000 for use on Special-Event trains.^[59] These cars were sold after Bombardier cars were delivered and are now in service on the Grand Canyon Railway.

Builder	Model	Type	Numbers	Quantity	Year	Note
Nippon Sharyo	Gallery	Trailer-Luggage	3800-3825	26	1985
		Trailer-Bike	3826-3835	10
		Trailer	3836-3851	16	1985-1986
			3852-3865	14	2000	With wheel chair space and bathroom
		Cab-Bike	4000-4020	21	1985	With bathroom
			4021-4026	6	2000	With wheel chair space and bathroom
Bombardier	Bi-Level	Trailer	220-227, 229-230	9	2002	With ADA compliant bathroom
			231-236	6	2008
			162-179*	16	2015 (162 and 163 built in 1992, 164-179 built 1997).
		Cab-Bike	112-118, 219	8	2002
			119-120	2	2008

*-Ex-Metrolink cars purchased by JPBX in 2014.^[60]

Intermodal connections

Inter-City, Regional and Commuter rail

Caltrain has direct connections to three regional rail services; Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) (with service to San Francisco, SFO, Oakland, Fremont, Richmond, Dublin, Concord, and Pittsburg) at the Millbrae Intermodal Station, Amtrak's Capitol Corridor and Coast Starlight trains, as well as Altamont Commuter Express at San Jose's Diridon Station and the Santa Clara station.

The future BART-to-San Jose extension would also introduce connecting BART service at Diridon station and Santa Clara station.

Bus/Light rail

Caltrain is served by a number of local bus/rail systems. These system include the San Francisco Municipal Railway (Muni), San Mateo County Transit District (SamTrans) and Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA). (Additionally, Golden Gate Transit of Marin and Sonoma Counties is within 20 minutes' walking distance, or a short Muni ride via the N or T lines, from Caltrain's northern terminus.)

In August 2005, as part of its Vasona light rail project, the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority established its third transfer point with Caltrain at San Jose's central train station Diridon. In addition to many bus connections, VTA light rail service has two other Caltrain transfer points at San Jose's Tamien and at Mountain View. (Also, the Cottle light rail stop in southern San Jose is a mile from Caltrain's Blossom Hill station.)

The San Francisco Municipal Railway (Muni) has two light rail connections, the N Judah and T Third Street lines, at separate stops near the San Francisco 4th and King station. Muni intended to establish another light rail connection to the Bayshore station at Visitacion Valley in southern San Francisco for the T Third line, but this has been delayed indefinitely due to cost and design issues. The T Third opened on April 18, 2007 without the connection to Bayshore station.

Airport

Caltrain passengers may transfer to BART at the Millbrae Intermodal Station for travel to the San Francisco International Airport. Currently, Caltrain riders looking to transfer to the airport must also change BART trains at San Bruno station^[61] during weekdays before 7 pm, as BART has eliminated direct service from Milbrae to SFO during those times; direct BART service between Millbrae and SFO still exists on nights and weekends. Prior to the opening of the airport extension in 2003 a free shuttle bus operated between Millbrae and the airport.^[62]

There is a connection to San Jose International Airport via the free VTA shuttle bus No. 10 at the Santa Clara Station.^[61]

Regional express bus

Caltrain is also served by AC Transit from Hayward at the Hillsdale station (Line M) and at Palo Alto station (Line U). This is in addition to the Dumbarton Express from Union City/Fremont at Palo Alto. Furthermore, Amtrak's Highway 17 Express bus from Santa Cruz and Monterey-Salinas Transit from Monterey at San Jose, as well as San Benito County Express from Hollister at Gilroy.

Bus shuttle

Caltrain sponsors many shuttle routes serving local employers on the Peninsula and in Silicon Valley. Shuttle connections via the Marguerite are available to Stanford University at the Palo Alto and California Avenue stations and San José State University at the San Jose Station.

Bicycle access

A bicycle rack aboard a Caltrain gallery car.

Bicyclists waiting to board Caltrain at the Palo Alto station.

Caltrain was one of the first commuter rail services to add bicycle capacity to its trains. On the older Nippon Sharyo gallery fleet, every cab car can carry 40 bicycles, but most cab cars on the newer Bombardier fleet carry 24 bicycles. As of 2011 every train has two bicycle cars, so capacity is 48 or 80 bicycles.^[63] Folding bicycles are not restricted and can be carried on any car when folded. Several of the additional Bombardier cars purchased from Metrolink will be refitted as bike cars, and some of the trains with Bombardier consists will have an additional bike car, bringing the total capacity to 72 bicycles on six-car Bombardier consists.^[57]

All bicycle rack-equipped cars have a yellow bike decal outside. Cyclists are required to tie their bicycle to the rack with the bungee cord provided. Each rack can accommodate four bicycles. Because the bikes are stacked together against the racks, most riders place a destination tag, available from a conductor, on their bicycles to optimize placement and minimize shuffling.^[64][65]

The variation on bicycle capacity between trainsets has generated criticisms from the bicycling community, as cyclists are denied boarding when a train reaches its bicycle capacity. The Baby Bullets, favored by many cyclists, often have lower bike-capacity Bombardier cars and cyclists may have to wait for slower trains with higher-capacity gallery cars, or seek alternate transportation.^[66]

Due to equipment rotation and maintenance concerns, Caltrain says it cannot dedicate cars with higher bike capacity on trains with high bike demand.

To provide an alternative to bringing bicycles on board the trains, Caltrain has installed bicycle lockers at most stations, and constructed a new bicycle station at the San Francisco station.^[67] A bicycle station was open at the Palo Alto station from April 1999 to October 2004, and reopened in February 2007.^[68] In early 2008, the Caltrain sponsored Warm Planet bicycle station opened at the 4th and Townsend terminus.

It has been suggested that Caltrain could increase its bicycle capacity by removing some seats from bicycle cars. Initially Caltrain rejected this idea because some trains are operated at seated capacity^[67] and the seat removal would take space from other passengers. But in early 2009 Caltrain announced that it would be expanding bicycle capacity by 8 spots by removing some seats in the bike cars, bringing bike capacity to 40 bikes on gallery cars and 24 bikes on Bombardier cars.^[69] The expansion started several months later.

Caltrain Average Weekday Bicycle Ridership by year Survey done every February. Only includes bicycles physically brought onto the train, not those left at the station.[70]
2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015
1,614	1,860	2,271	2,334	2,382	2,890	2,659	3,664	4,243	4,910	5,874	6,207

See also

• List of San Francisco Bay Area trains
• South Bay Historical Railroad Society
• Southern Pacific Peninsula Commute
• Southern Pacific Railroad
• List of Peninsula Commute locomotives

References

1. "2015 Annual Passenger Counts" (PDF). Caltrain. Retrieved May 11, 2015.
2. "Caltrain-Commute Fleet". Caltrain.com. Retrieved November 30, 2011.
3. "Schedules". Caltrain.com. October 1, 2012. Retrieved November 21, 2012.
4. "History – Caltrain Milestones". Caltrain. Retrieved April 9, 2008.
5. "Caltrain WiFi FAQs". Caltrain.org. January 13, 2011. Retrieved November 30, 2011.
6. "Caltrain rejects two Wi-Fi bids, ending project". Paloaltoonline.com. Retrieved November 30, 2011.
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External links

• Caltrain Official Site
• Caltrain Schedule (official)
• Caltrain Schedule (alternative)
• San Mateo County Transportation Authority – Contains Information on Dumbarton Rail Extension
• BayRail Alliance (Caltrain advocacy group)
• Caltrain 2005 (Video Documentary about Caltrain)
• Articles on the history of the San Francisco Peninsula Commuter Service
• TimeTable Mobile Open-source train schedule/timetable for PDA and cellphones